Return of a Sage
by RWingflyr
Summary: Saria returns to Kokiri Forest to visit an old friend.


Hello, RWingflyr here. Here's another solo shot from Ocarina of Time. This one takes place after the storyline. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: "The Legend of Zelda" and all its characters, names and places are copyrights of Nintendo.

Return of a Sage

Peace.

For the first time in a time longer than any living person could remember, Hyrule was at peace. No more poes; no more Stalfos Knights; no more dark, twisted magic manipulated into grotesque humanoid forms; and especially no more curses. Ganondorf and his dark minions have been sealed within the infinite bowels of the Dark Realm for eternity. Even the matriarchal Gerudo army willingly surrendered its inherent murderous purpose and vowed to protect the vast kingdom in which they dwelled.

How, then, could all not happy in the kingdom? In order to discover the answer, one has to delve into the invisible depths of Hyrule, into the immortal sanctuary of the Sacred Realm…

The wondrous cavern of the Sacred Realm may appear to contain nothing more than a solitary, round platform bearing the holy symbol of the Triforce; around which lay six colored pedestals – each for an awakened sage. Imperceptible to the naked eye lay a hallowed refuge, one in which the sages inhabited, a place that ordinary evil can never reach. A noble Gerudo, a headstrong Zora princess, a devoted caretaker, a wise old man, the fearless leader of the Goron race and a young Kokiri girl were these such sages. The latter of these protectors of the Triforce sat all alone on a grassy hillside that merged with the alabaster interior of a temple. The bright foliage slowly wisped around her bare feet from a slight breeze while the young sage gazed out at the sacred symbol. Amidst the multicolored clouds, the Triforce glowed atop a distant stone pedestal flanked by long swirling stairways that reached down to the arboreal meadow. A slender hand intuitively tugged at the base of the sleeveless emerald silk gown. She held her legs close and rested her chin on her knees. A clear spring bubbled its way along in front of her; the small stream eventually became a flowing river that led to Ruto, the Zora princess and the Water Sage, and her domain.

Saria sat at the top of the realm, a place shared by all the sages. Each sage lived in his or her own section of the realm; Rauru the Light Sage dwelled at the top where Saria sat. Unbeknownst to the forest girl, the wise old man walked through the sweet-smelling grass up behind her.

"I sense something troubling you, child." Startled, Saria awakened from her trance but didn't look at the elderly sage; she merely looked down, becoming interested in a blooming lily nearby.

"Rauru," Saria paused to brush a windblown strand of her emerald hair from her beautiful face. "I want to go back to Hyrule."

Rauru stood motionless. "Saria, I am afraid I cannot allow that. Sages are destined to live in the Sacred Realm only. Even though Hyrule prospers at the moment, we do not know what evil could be plotting to drive this peaceful land into another dark oblivion." Rauru kneeled, groaning under the burden of his own weight. "Saria, the power of the sages is crucial to the protection of the Triforce. By leaving, one could seriously weaken the protection on our reason for existence."

Saria finally turned to face Rauru, her long emerald hair swaying slightly in the breeze. "Rauru, I realize I am a sage and I accept that; but I have been cooped inside this realm for a very long time." Her small hands grabbed Rauru's tunic. "I want to be among my Kokiri friends again. I am well aware of the consequences of my leaving the Sacred Realm, but I can't stand leaving them the way I did. I left Hyrule in a rather inappropriate fashion and I just want to visit them one last time." Saria paused and breathed deeply. "Besides," The girl sighed and looked down, blinking away a tear. "I need to pay my respects to someone."

The Sage of Light clearly saw Saria was troubled. "Very well, you may go, but you mustn't stay too long."

Saria's expression brightened. "Oh, thank you, Rauru. I promise!"

Rauru's smiled at the child. "If you are to leave, you must loan me some of your sage powers. The powers of all the sages must be present should evil make itself known in order to protect this realm." Saria held out a hand and Rauru grasped it in his. An invisible surge of forest energy immediately entered the old sage's body. "I will return your powers when you come back. I cannot hold them for long with my being the Sage of Light."

"Thank you." Saria hugged the sage's large body. "I will return."

Kokiri Forest was alive with the sound of joyous singing. The eternally young forest children were happily playing and frolicking in the forest air. The new Deku Tree had brought new life to this place. Everyone had forgotten about that fateful day when dark magic spread throughout Hyrule. Now was a time of happiness, evil had been banished and a time for celebration was at hand.

Saria strolled leisurely through the part of Hyrule she used to call home. She could feel the leaves and soft soil on her bare feet, a feeling she had enjoyed days on end living here. Saria stared at her former home. _"I wonder if anyone's in there." _She thought. Saria warily stepped in. Thankfully, no one was in her old abode, and for good reason: all her former belongings were covered in dust. She sat down on the bed and soaked in the environment. Her entrancing eyes caught sight of a familiar item sitting on a nearby table. She picked it up and recognized it immediately. It was a picture drawn on a piece of bark of her and her best friend Link. It depicted a vague drawing of her giving Link a kiss on the cheek. Saria blushed slightly as she looked at the picture. She spotted the burnt twig she had used for the drawing on the floor. She intently drew small hearts around the charcoal-drawn heads. Moving over to her picture, Saria inscribed the words "I love you, Link" next to her head. She vividly remembered the wonderful memories she had during her life as a Kokiri girl, especially her strong friendship with Link. Saria tucked the drawing away in her gown and stepped out. She stopped in front of her friend's old home; it had long been deserted after the day he left to save the kingdom. She reached for the ladder and hugged it as if it were Link himself. The mere sight of Link's home brought back vibrant memories of their friendship. They shared the best times of their lives together in that same forest: playing games, singing, enjoying private conversations under the stars at night, teasing Mido…

_"Speaking of Mido, there he is now."_ Saria walked in front of the self-absorbed Kokiri leader's abode and watched the redhead bully stomp out of his home and toward the leisurely congregation nearby. Mido passed within a hair's breadth of the sage but didn't seem to notice Saria standing there at his doorstep. _"Since I am a sage, he must not be able to see or hear me."_ She thought. _"I think I'll listen in."_

The boys and girls of the forest sat in a circle, laughing and telling jokes, oblivious to their pompous chief standing among them.

"Hey, remember the time Link put some Wolfos dung in Mido's bed?"

"That was the funniest thing! It took him weeks to get rid of that smell!"

"Oh! How about the time Saria tripped Mido and he fell into that puddle of mud!"

Saria silently giggled at the memory. _"I can't believe they still remember that!"_ Her thought was interrupted when Mido finally made his presence known.

"AHEM!!!!" The group went quiet in a hurry. "I don't remember giving any of you permission to make fun of me!"

One of the blond girls giggled. "But Mido, it was so funny!"

"Yeah! Where's your sense of humor, Mido? You're such a spoilsport. Why can't you just lighten up?" One of the boys said.

"HEY!" Mido shouted. "I can have a sense of humor any time I want, okay? Saria was just being mean. I'd do the same thing to her in a second."

Saria narrowed her blue eyes at him. _"Oh, someone tell me he did NOT just say that!"_ She quickly scanned the forest floor until she found something long attached to the ground. Being the Forest Sage definitely had its perks; she could control certain elements of any wooded area, and she was going to use this ability as revenge for what Mido had just said.

Another girl spoke up angrily. "Mido, take that back! That's was not a nice thing to say! If Saria were here she would definitely teach you a lesson!"

Mido stuck his nose into the air defiantly. "Well, Saria's not here now, is she?"

_"You'd be surprised, Mido."_ She thought, smiling. Her hands hovered above a tree root barely above ground close to where Mido stood. She curled both sets of fingers up as the root magically forced its way out of the moist dirt.

Mido pointed a threatening finger at each child. "If I hear anyone else making fun of me, you're all going to be sorry!" Saria moved out of his way as he stormed off. _"I'll teach them to make fun of me, I'll show them. No one makes a fool of…"_ SPLAT!

Raucous laughter erupted from the group. Mido had been too busy plotting his revenge to pay attention to where he was going. His front foot struck a tree root, causing the bully to fall face first into – what else – a puddle of mud.

"Ha! Serves you right, Mido you self-centered pig!"

"Yeah, look at him! He's definitely a pig! Oink! Oink!"

"That's what you get for threatening Saria!"

Mido groggily sat up, his face and tunic covered in wet dirt. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!" He said, pouting. Unfortunately for him, the laughter continued. "I said it's not funny!" When the laughter didn't cease, Mido flailed his arms in a tantrum, splattering mud all over his already soiled face. "IT'S NOT FUNNY! IT'S NOT FUNNY! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" When the disparaging didn't cease, Mido finally did grudgingly. _"How could I embarrass myself like that? I'm glad Saria's not here. She'd never let me live it down."_

Saria grinned from behind a nearby tree. _"Oh, Mido, if you only knew…"_ Her brief moment of fun at an end, she turned toward the Lost Woods. In one swift turn, Saria grabbed her gown and blew a gust of fragrant wind with it as she disappeared without a trace.

"Hey, did any of you feel that wind? That was a mighty strong breeze!" noted one of the Kokiri boys.

"Yeah. Gusts like that aren't normal in this forest." Said one of the girls.

"What if that evil is coming back? We'll all be killed!" said another girl.

"That's not an evil wind, at least it doesn't _smell_ like one." Said another boy.

"It smelled a lot like hydrangeas, but Saria told me they're only found in the Lost Woods." Said the first girl. "It's her favorite flower."

"Really?" the boys asked in unison.

"Yup. That's…right…" The group sat there with a look of shocked realization about them; all eyes widened as everyone traded expressions of speechlessness.

Had Saria been there?

Except for the fairies humming around, the Sacred Forest Meadow sat in silence. The Forest Temple still stood as majestic as ever. Saria's soft hair waved happily in the cool forest wind, the brisk sensation tickling her radiant skin. She gazed up at the treetops, gazing admirably at the immenseness of the forest she now had control over. To test her new power, she knelt down and picked up a small amount of soil. She placed it in her hand and waited. Soon, a green stem poked out. It grew a short distance and blossomed into a beautiful white rose. Saria smiled at her newfound abilities. She plucked the rose off her hand and carefully inserted it into her hair to accentuate her friendly face. After more gazing, her eyes rested on another set of eyes across from her; a hero's eyes. The heroic figure standing at the base of the temple entrance stood proud and rigid, sword at his side and shield in hand, plus a flat, oblong stone embedded in the ground in front of him with an inscription on it. The sage walked forward several steps and her magic overflowed. With each step, beautiful flowers and plants burgeoned out of the ground, answering her silent call and filling the Sacred Forest Meadow with exquisite efflorescence. She stopped right in the middle of the eyes' frozen gaze and tucked her legs underneath her as she sat down on the forest floor, as if not being worthy to stand on the same ground as the Hero of Time. She drew in deep, hushed breaths, closing her eyes as she contemplated what to say.

"Here I am, like I promised." Saria stated simply. "I could never forget how much you mean to me. You own a piece of me, just like I own a piece of you." She clenched her hands over her heart. "I love you with every fiber of my being." A lone tear found its way out onto her cheek. "If I had a choice I would've said no." She sniffed. "But this was my fate, my destiny. This was something I could not control, Link!" Saria began sobbing uncontrollably. In an instant, she leapt, grabbing hold of her friend's neck and holding tight, crying into his chest. She slowly drooped to the ground, letting her arms and hands run down Link's body until they fell limp at her side. After a moment, she brought out the small charcoal drawing and placed it at the hero's feet. "Here, Link. I want you to have this. I've wanted you to have this ever since you first left the forest but I never had the courage to tell you before." She said, recalling the moment she saw the hero leave the forest for the first time. "I could never have the courage you do, Link. I would be fortunate to even have half the courage you have." The figure continued to stare ahead, not looking down at the forest girl. Saria's eyes looked cloudy from her overflowing tears. "You were Hyrule's savior, Link. Thank you." She wrapped her arms around his legs and embraced them tightly, leaning her head against them as she inhaled a deep breath of the clean air, exhaling slowly. Saria extended an arm forward and her ocarina materialized out of thin air. She finally stood up and, just like the charcoal drawing, kissed the hero the cheek.

"Sleep well, my hero." Saria sat down on her stump and brought the instrument to her delicate lips to begin playing the mellifluous melody that carried her namesake. She blissfully played the joyous aria for as long as she was able, all the while sitting next to a stone statue of the legendary Hero of Time. The polished slab in front of the statue yielded its purpose.

_This is the holy sanctuary belonging to the fearless Hero of Time. The goddess of courage herself, Farore, constructed this very memorial in honor of the one who fought endless bounds to restore peace to the kingdom of Hyrule. Where the hero ventured, evil cowered in fear for he carried the blade of evil's bane, the Master Sword. With this sacred weapon, he cast the dark wizard lord and his evil minions into eternal oblivion. He carried the hope of an entire kingdom on his shoulders, ready to defend all that was threatened with his life. This he accomplished with the utmost defiance and bravery. Ironically, the one battle he could not win was the battle with time itself and it ultimately claimed his life, but the heroic exploits of a young forest boy profoundly changed the lives of all who knew him._

_And so, his life lived, his exploits fulfilled, here lies Link, the Hero the Time._

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Tell me what you think! Don't forget my other Zelda story, "A Sage's Love".


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